Quiznos grew into Subway's biggest rival and then collapsed, a bad outcome driven by squeezing the franchise owners who actually ran the stores.

• Owners paid higher fees and royalties than Subway franchisees and were forced to buy supplies from headquarters at marked-up prices.
• Stores brought in more sales than a typical Subway but left owners with far less profit, often under $35,000 a year.
• Thousands of current and former owners sued, and the company also terminated hundreds of locations outright.
• The founders' family sold half the company to JP Morgan Chase in 2006, pulling hundreds of millions out while loading the business with debt it still had to repay.
• Subway's $5 footlong during the 2008 crash, plus Subway adding toasters, erased Quiznos' price and product edge.

Outlook: The chain never recovered — roughly 130 stores remain under new ownership, with nothing suggesting a comeback.